In-flight entertainment (IFE) systems are deployed onboard aircraft to provide entertainment services for passengers in a passenger cabin. The IFE systems typically provide passengers with television and audio multimedia entertainment programming.
One type of IFE system is a “server centric” architecture where multimedia content is located on a server or a set of servers installed in an electronic bay in the airplane. Video content is played through displays installed at overhead locations or within seatbacks, and associated audio content is played through jacks provided in seat armrests.
Another type of IFE system is a “seat centric” architecture where content is stored in mass data storage devices located at individual seats and played through associated seat displays. The server (or set of servers) acts as an injection point for content that will be later installed locally into the seat mass data storage devices, and also acts as a secondary source for content that may not fit in the seat mass data storage devices.
There has also been an emergence of wireless systems providing connectivity within server centric architectures and seat centric architectures to passenger personal electronic devices (PEDs) or “passenger terminals”, such as Internet access, as well as limited streaming entertainment, such as movies. These systems use servers to provide content through Cabin Wireless Access Points (CWAPs) installed at spaced apart locations along the airplane cabin.
With the proliferation of the number of different types of vehicle entertainment systems and associated cabin equipment along with the increasing use of a myriad of different types and configurations of terminals that are carried onboard by passengers, it is becoming increasingly difficult to assess whether such systems are performing acceptably and what is contributing to operational limitations or problems.